L’ATELIER DU FESTIVAL
Doi Boy
Directed by : Nontawat NUMBENCHAPOL
- Year of production : 2018
- Country : Thailand
- Length : 96 minutes
Previous films : http://www.cinandovl.com/atelier2018
Synopsis
Sorn is a 21-year old undocumented ethnic Shan refugee who works in a Chiang Mai spa, performing sexual favors for male and female clients. He supports the education of his little brother, Chan, but they face oppression, being ‘invisible’ to the government and unable to travel. To cope, Sorn projects himself into the stories of his clients to dream of another life. When Sorn and his Shan friend unsuccessfully try to buy black market passports and the spa shuts down, Chan presses to return to the 'doi' (mountain), but Sorn strongly refuses, reminding him of their past, forced into the military. After a relationship with Bee, a Shan girl, Sorn meets a French film director and follows him to Paris to act in a film about his own life. One day, Chan abruptly returns to the Shan State, leaving Sorn shattered. His dream was to give his brother a future that he could not have, so despite transforming his projected fantasies into reality, he remains flightless, dreaming of his past with Chan.
Statement
What is it like to live without a dream? I developed DOI BOY from interviewing Shan refugees and will follow a realistic approach using natural lighting and colors. I will cast real Shan 'doi boys', but surround them with well-known Thai and foreign actors as their clients. When Sorn dreams, the film layers the present reality, past memories, and projected fantasies. Here the film provides multiple interpretations to break from naturalism into a magic realism, using oversaturated colors and fluid movements. But this subject brings sadness because Thailand has moved toward a military government like that of the doi boys. I worry about my loved ones whose futures might become stuck like them. I cannot criticize my country directly so this film expresses these frustrations.
© DR
Credits
Nontawat NUMBENCHAPOL - Director
Specifications
Language film :
Chan, Thai
Working budget:
735 300 €
Financing acquired:
214 100 €
Contacts
Production
Anti-Archive / Mobile Lab Project
B19-02, 1, Harvard St., Diamond Island, Sangkat Tonle Bassac - Phnom Penh 12301 Cambodia
SANSKRIT
- +1 949 903 9595 / +66 81 868 8153
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www.antiarchive.com